Schools

Testimony Begins in Wrongful Termination Suit

Former district transportation director claims current board member influenced previous board to fire her.

Initially scheduled for May 7, a former Parsippany school district employee's lawsuit against the township  is now being heard at the Morris County Courthouse in Morristown.

The trial began Thursday in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge David B. Rand, when an six-member jury with two alternate members was seated.

The suit was filed by Kathleen Warrick, who served as the district's transportation director until 2008, when her expiring contract with Parsippany schools was not renewed.

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Warrick claims she was fired because of Hiawatha Towing owner Michael Strumolo, who from 1973 to 2008 was under contract to repair and maintain district school buses. The plaintiff charges that after she urged the school board to terminate Strumolo's contract—which it did—Strumolo retaliated by using his political influence to convince BOE members to have her fired.

Strumolo, a former Town Council member, became a school board member in 2009. He still holds that position and also sits on the Republican Party county committee.

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Warrick's attorney, Jon Green, questioned Strumolo over the course of two hours about the quality of the work he did for the district. The lawyer asked him about his political ties, his career on the Board of Education and his membership on the school board's Transportation Committee, which he is now the chairman.

Green also explored Strumolo's relationships with BOE member Anthony Mancuso and former members Dr. Louis Valori and . Warrick contends that Strumolo convinced the three to vote for the termination of her contract on Nov. 4, 2008.

"During your tenure servicing buses, did you ever attempt to exercise influence to not renew Ms. Warrick's contract in 2008?" the lawyer asked.

"No," Strumolo said.

"You were not too fond of Ms. Warrick's work?" 

"Correct," Strumolo replied. "It was impossible to deal with her."

"Did you try to interefere with anyone? Did you tell anyone you didn't want to see Ms. Warrick's contract renewed?" Gold asked.

Again, Strumolo said no, but he did admit that he complained about her "regularly" and conceded that the two had "a very hostile relationship."

One complaint of Warrick's was that under Strumolo's watch, in 2007, 11 of 19 school buses failed a state inspection, and in 2008, 17 out of 25 buses failed.

Strumolo said she was to blame because she worked against him and made the job almost impossible to do.

"I had a great working relationship with the business administrators, superintendents, just about everyone," he told the court, adding that he held the state's highest Gold Star certification for mechanics.

Green tried again.

"You never told Mr. Mancuso that Ms. Warrick should be fired?"

"Correct," Strumolo said.

"Did you tell him she was incompetent?"

"Absolutely."

"You don't see that as influence?" Green asked.

Strumolo responded with a question. 

"Did I give up my right to express my opinion?"

Called to the witness stand, Anthony Mancuso, who became school board president in mid-2008, testified that he and Strumolo have known each other for many years and that he patronized Hiawatha Towing once or twice a week up until 2009.

Asked about the quality of Strumolo's work, Mancuso noted that there were concerns over the bus inspection failures. Additionally, Hiawatha Towing was moved into a smaller station that had only two service bays, one fewer than in its previous location. 

"You thought Mr. Strumolo would have trouble servicing the district's buses [in the smaller space]?" Green asked.

"I thought that," Mancuso replied, adding that any concerns he had were shared with the superintendent, as per the Board of Education code of ethics.

Asked whether there were communication issues between Strumolo and Warrick, Mancuso indicated that there were.

"They didn't get along," he said. "They didn't seem to like each other."

Green then asked why the board renewed Strumolo's contract and gave him a 10 percent raise in 2007.

"I can't explain it," Mancuso said.

While Warrick alleges that she was fired, Mancuso testified that her contract was "not renewed for cause."

Among other things, he said Warrick allegedly did a poor job of coordinating the bus drivers and that when she was needed on the job for the first day of the 2007-08 school year when the district was 10 drivers short, and on a subsequent day when buses were needed due to a hostage crisis in the Lake Parsippany area that required nearby schools to be evacuated.

Another incident involved school bus gas caps. Safety procedures mandate that green gas caps are used for diesel fuel and red for typical gasoline.

"Dr. Seitz had let me know that Ms. Warrick would get all the caps painted," Mancuso testified. "A few days later, I walked down the line of buses and saw that [she didn't]. Dr. Seitz said, 'I did the same thing. I can't believe she lied to me.'"

"Were you ever told that Ms. Warrick was reprimanded for lying about the gas caps?" asked Green.

"I don't recall," said Mancuso.

"Did Dr. Seitz tell you that the gas cap situation was the last straw?"

Mancuso replied, "I don't recall."

He added that a contract termination is decided by the business administrator and the superintendent, and then voted on by the Board of Education.

"Dr. Seitz advised the board that he wouldn't renew her contract," Mancuso said, noting that he voted in favor of termination on the recommendation of the superintendent. 

Seitz was the next to take the witness stand. 

Under questioning, the superintendent of schools said he had issues with both the work of Strumolo and Warrick, in large part because of "communications issues" between the two.

When testimony resumes next week, Seitz is expected to return to the stand. Still left to testify are Valori and Warrick.

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